Historical Downtown - Old Town

- District 1: Catedral Metropolitana, San Salvador Cathedral, Palacio Nacional, National Palace, National Theatre, National Library, Plaza Gerrardo Barrios, Parque Libertad

District 1 is the most central district. Here you find the Historical Downtown, the Old Town, where the capital has been situated since the 16th century. But after the large earthquakes in 1986 and 2001, many historical buildings collapsed or was partly destroyed. This part of the city has since then fallen into disrepair, since the commercial center has moved to the west, that offers modern buildings and good parking lots, but lacks the historical character of the old part. The historical center is more rundown and less safe then the Western parts. Plaza Barrios and Plaza Libertad/Parque Libertad (Liberty Plaza) are the two mayor squares in the historical downtown. At Plaza Gerardo Barrios (or Plaza Civica), the heart of San Salvador, you find both the impressive white Metropolitan Cathedral (Catedral Metropolitana), the largest church of El Salvador, with the national hero Oscar Romero's tomb inside, and the beautiful National Palace (Palacio Nacional), a neo-classical white palace, with 4 main rooms in different colours (red room, yellow room etc) and 101 secondary rooms and a beautiful courtyard filled with palms and greenery. Both are open to visitors (and of course we visited them). Until 1974 the Palacio Nacional was housed the government, including the president's office (the yellow room). It was built 1905-11 to replace the previous palace, that burnt down. The pope John Paul II visited the cathedral twice. During the burial of Oscar Romero, 44 people died after some security forces fired. The previous cathedral was built in 1888, but after it burt down in 1951, the current cathedral started construction, and was finished as late as in 1999. In the 2010s, the beautiful art on the exterior, inspired by Mayan art, unfortunately was removed, making the cathedral's exterior look a bit empty. The equestrian Statue of Capitán General Gerardo Barrios, guarded by soldiers, stands in the middle of the square. Other significant modernist and heritage buildings around the square are the National Theatre (Teatro Nacional), a white neo-classicial building that is the oldest theater in Central America, built in 1917, the ugly, grey but popular National Library (Biblioteca Nacional), a modernist building that replaced the old one that collapsed during an earthquake), the Central Reserve Bank of El Salvador, Iglesia El Rosario (a grey modern but interesting church with a beautiful colourful interior from 1971), Iglesia El Calvario (a beautiful old grey church), Basílica María Auxiliadora (a white church with a campanile, perhaps the most beautiful church of all), other churches and the Monument to the Heroes of 1811 (Monumento de los Héroes) at Plaza Libertad, a mix of a central square and a park. The historical district is the most walkable area of San Salvador, with many pavements and lots of markets and cheap stores in dark passages. There are some annoying beggars, but the number has decreased the latter years. Some of the beggars will follow you if you walk in to these dark shopping passages.

Casa Dueñas is a grandiose mansion, built by a rich coffee farmer in the 1920s. It housed six American ambassadors and many other facilities. Many celebrities, such as Robert Kennedy, Richard Nixon and Clark Gable stayed there. It was restored in 2001 and is now the Ministry of Education. Calle Arce is a the most important street in the Old Town . If you don't look like a local, some locals will approach you to talk, since it is rare to see non-national tourists in this part of the city. Most of them are harmless, and probably most curious, but can of course make some tourists nervous, considering the risk of scam. This area is definately the one that felt least safe of the ones we visited, probably because of its reputation, it is the only area where we actually walked outdoors and because it is so rundown. But it has a great potential.

WARNING! It is recommended to not walk in the old town alone, without being accompanied by someone who knows the area. If you got visible tattoos, it is definately recommended to cover them, if you don't want to end up in trouble with the locals gangs (that we didn't see, but we know people that got into these kind of troubles). Heavily guarded policemen stand at Plaza Barrios, where locals also sit down and relax, so you can feel fairly safe here daytime. It can also be dangerous to cross the streets, there are few crosswalks, and many of the pavements, if there are any, are in really bad condition. On top of that the motorists are driving like crazy and rarely yield to pedestrians!

Catedral Metropolitana, San Salvador Cathedral, Plaza Barrios Catedral Metropolitana, San Salvador Cathedral 01 Catedral Metropolitana, San Salvador Cathedral 02 - picture of Oscar Romero Catedral Metropolitana, San Salvador Cathedral 03 Catedral Metropolitana, San Salvador Cathedral 04 Catedral Metropolitana, San Salvador Cathedral 05 Catedral Metropolitana, San Salvador Cathedral 06 Catedral Metropolitana, San Salvador Cathedral 07 Catedral Metropolitana, San Salvador Cathedral 08 Catedral Metropolitana, San Salvador Cathedral 09 Catedral Metropolitana, San Salvador Cathedral 10 Catedral Metropolitana, San Salvador Cathedral 11- Oscar Romero's tomb Catedral Metropolitana, San Salvador Cathedral 12 Catedral Metropolitana, San Salvador Cathedral 13  - Oscar Romero's tomb Catedral Metropolitana, San Salvador Cathedral 14 - cellar Catedral Metropolitana, San Salvador Cathedral 15 Catedral Metropolitana, San Salvador Cathedral 16 Catedral Metropolitana, San Salvador Cathedral 18 Catedral Metropolitana, San Salvador Cathedral 19 Catedral Metropolitana, San Salvador Cathedral 20 Palacio Nacional, National Palace, Plaza Barrios Palacio Nacional, National Palace 02 Palacio Nacional, National Palace 03 Palacio Nacional, National Palace 04 Palacio Nacional, National Palace 05 Palacio Nacional, National Palace 06 Palacio Nacional, National Palace 07 Palacio Nacional, National Palace 08 Palacio Nacional, National Palace 09 Palacio Nacional, National Palace 10 Palacio Nacional, National Palace 11 Palacio Nacional, National Palace 14 Palacio Nacional, National Palace 15 Palacio Nacional, National Palace 16 Palacio Nacional, National Palace 17 Palacio Nacional, National Palace 18 Palacio Nacional, National Palace 19 Palacio Nacional, National Palace 20 Palacio Nacional, National Palace 21 Palacio Nacional, National Palace 22 Palacio Nacional, National Palace 23 Palacio Nacional, National Palace 24 Palacio Nacional, National Palace 25 Palacio Nacional, National Palace 26 Palacio Nacional, National Palace 27 Palacio Nacional, National Palace 28 - courtyard Palacio Nacional, National Palace 29 - courtyard Palacio Nacional, National Palace 30 Palacio Nacional, National Palace 31 Palacio Nacional, National Palace 32 Palacio Nacional, National Palace 33 Palacio Nacional, National Palace 34 Palacio Nacional, National Palace 35 Palacio Nacional, National Palace 36 Palacio Nacional, National Palace 37 Palacio Nacional, National Palace 38 - Bench where  prsident Araujo where assassinated 1913 Palacio Nacional, National Palace 40 Palacio Nacional, National Palace 41 - red room Palacio Nacional, National Palace 42 - red room Palacio Nacional, National Palace 43 Palacio Nacional, National Palace 44 Palacio Nacional, National Palace 45 Palacio Nacional, National Palace 46 Palacio Nacional, National Palace 47 Palacio Nacional, National Palace 48 Palacio Nacional, National Palace 50 Palacio Nacional, National Palace 51 Plaza Gerardo Barrios 01 - statue Plaza Barrios from Palacio Nacional
Statue of Capitán General Gerardo Barrios, Plaza Barrios Plaza Gerardo Barrios 02 Plaza Gerardo Barrios 03 Plaza Gerardo Barrios 04 Plaza Gerardo Barrios 05 Plaza Gerardo Barrios 06 Plaza Gerardo Barrios 07 - Biblioteca Nacional National Library, Plaza Barrios Plaza Gerardo Barrios 08 Plaza Libertad 01 Plaza Libertad 02 Parque Libertad 03 Parque Libertad 04 Parque Libertad 05 Parque Libertad  with Monumento de los Héroes Parque Libertad 07 - Monumento de los Héroes Plaza Libertad 08 - Portal Sagrera Plaza Libertad 09 Iglesia El Rosario, Parque Libertad Parque Libertad 11 Cathedral from Parque Libertad Plaza Libertad 13 - Portal Sagrera Plaza Morazan 01 Plaza Morazan 02 Plaza Morazan 03 Plaza Morazan 04 Plaza Morazan 05 - Statue of Francisco Morazán Plaza Morazan 06 - National Theatre Plaza Morazan 07 - Theatre and Cathedral Casa Dueñas, 1920s mansion visited by celebrities San Salvador Old Town 071 - market San Salvador Old Town 072 San Salvador Old Town 073 San Salvador Old Town 075 San Salvador Old Town 076 Iglesia El Calvario San Salvador Old Town 080 San Salvador Old Town 081 San Salvador Old Town 094 San Salvador Old Town 095 San Salvador Old Town 096 - neglect art deco building San Salvador Old Town 098 - Central Reserve Bank San Salvador Old Town 099 - Central Reserve Bank San Salvador Old Town 113 San Salvador Old Town 114 San Salvador Old Town 115 San Salvador Old Town 116 San Salvador Old Town 117 San Salvador Old Town 118 - Centro Comercial Melendez Munguia San Salvador Old Town 119 San Salvador Old Town 120 Basílica María Auxiliadora Basílica María Auxiliadora San Salvador Old Town 130